It's all about the party!

Monday, September 26, 2005

First of all, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for my family. My uncle that lives closest to the coast had some minor mess, but no damage to his house. They got a little bit of rain, and their electricity got knocked out for a bit, but other than that, they're all safe and sound. My grandaddy and other uncle also fared well. A couple of small branches missing from the trees, but didn't lose a single shingle. Up here in Dallas, we didn't get any of the forecasted rain, and only some minor wind. I have a lot of leaves in my yard, and a few houses in the neighborhood lost a couple of branches, but other than that, we're just fine.
Friday night I went to go see Coldplay with my girlfriends. It was an awesome show! I didn't get home until nearly 1 am, but not for lack of trying. The show was sold out, and the parking lot was a fiasco.
Saturday morning it was so hard to get out of bed. My alarm went off at 4:15 am, and I finally rolled out of bed at 4:30. Our long run got changed to Saturday morning because of the threat of Hurricane Rita. And, instead of running a long out-and-back course, we ran short 4 mile loops. Two miles out from the store and two miles back. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I managed to get in 17.7 miles in 3:40. I also ran the entire time. All my long runs the last couple of weeks have had some walking and moaning. I didn't do that much moaning this time. Just a little talking to myself at the very end. Saturday afternoon involved an ice bath, a shower, lunch and a long nap. Followed by lazing around for the rest of the day. It was wonderful.
Sunday we had Elle's birthday party. Just the family, minus my brother. I don't know whether he didn't get the message or what, but he failed to show. It's a shame, because I made a great spread! Waffles with strawberries, whipped cream and homemade syrup, scrambled eggs, sausage, milk, orange juice and coffee.
I got a little 'Princess for the Day' tiara for Elle and Anna. Anna is my sister's roommate's daughter. They have a great time playing together. I also got a boa and some fluffy slippers for Elle. She looked adorable! She ate all her breakfast, and about 5 link sausages. She loves those things. Then we opened presents. She got some clothes and a movie, but also a new soccer-ball charm for her charm-bracelet, and a new bike! This one doesn't have training wheels though. She's been begging me to teach her to ride without training wheels. Anyone have any tips for this, let me know, because I'm not sure how to go about it.

Then, my sister, grandmother and I played a game of Scrabble. My mom came in and took over for my sister after awhile, and she's the only real competition in my family. I still won though. My grandfather just pestered us. 'That's not a word!' Um, yeah, grandpa, it is. I have a degree in English for Pete's sake! QUA is a word! But of course I had to look it up and prove it. We have to use two different dictionaries though. My new one has more 'modern' words, but not as many words total. The old dictionary has some 'archaic' words. I need to break down and buy an official Scrabble dictionary. But the old one has sentimental value as it, and the Scrabble game that I have, belonged to my great-grandmother. My mom and I used to play with her all the time.
Sunday afternoon was actually quiet. Then Elle, Zed and I went to dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse. We sat up in the caboose, and we got the waiter to sing Happy Birthday to her. She was pleased as punch to be sung to by the waitstaff. Anyone takes me out anywhere for my birthday where they sing to me, and it's gonna be ugly. I just want the dessert.

9/26/2005 11:59:00 AM :: ::

18 Comments:

Sounds like a great weekend. Last year I just taught my daughter to ride at 4yo. If you can find a grassy gentle hill with very few obstacles, give her a push and let momentum do all the balancing for her. If she is terrified of you letting go, try and run alongside and pretend you're holding on for that moral support. Then when you think she can do it, don't let her know, but give her a push and just watch her go!! She'll be suprised when you're still at the top and she's all the way at the bottom. I can thank my Dad for that one. It worked for me, and it worked for my daughter.Happy biking!

I agree about the bike thing. I learned to ride with someone running along beside, holding the back of the seat. Eventually, they let go and I could go on my own. Until I turned around to see they weren't there. Then I fell. Stopping was always the hardest part at first.

Looks and sounds like you and your littleones had fun! Do you reckon Kiddies today have more fun things to play with than we did? Managed to keep all of my toys as my parents haven't moved much and we're horders, they may come in handy one day ;-)

An English degree, i'd better watch my P's and Q's. Didn't know you can get scrabble dictionaries either, get anythng these days ;-)

Ahh....17.7 miles. From this girl, who can barely scrape out 2 1/2 on a good day, my hat is off to you! Good luck on that marathon. I'll be mentally cheering you on as I drag myself through my first 5k. Thanks for visiting via Michele's earlier. I've enjoyed my return visit. Your girls are beautiful, btw...